Great Saturday Nov 16

Sunday Nov 16

 

Dinner group

Robert the Lockmaster

Boats arriving

Brown water in the Swamp

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The absolute BEST day so far...last night and this morning!

While we were in the lock at 3:30 pm, yesterday, we talked to the lock master and the Endeavour cat ahead of us. He told us that if we tied up between the lock and the bridge, we could get pizza delivered and in the morning, he would provide coffee...between 7:45 and 8:30, “and don’t make me come looking for you!”

So we tied up with the Cat, C-Soul, and Alethea, an Allied Princess converted to a junk rig [they have a wood stove as well] and we sat on C-Soul getting to know each other.  Gayle and Mark are from Montana. They are divers and she makes an awesome “boat drink” called the C-Soul: Irish cream, Zambouka and a little instant coffee on ice... mmmmm.

Jen, Nate and Wyatt [a nine-year-old golden retriever] got Alethea in Halifax and are travelling to the Bahamas. They are a young couple but with lots of boating experience.

We talked ‘til around 7pm and then went home to get dinner and bed. It was the coldest so far last night... 4 degrees.  But we managed.

We had breakfast and walked up to the Lockmaster’s “house” and he met us with fresh fruit, yogurt, and donuts. He is THE most charming man I have ever met. Absolutely loves his job, has done it for 21 years, and knows everything you could possible want to know about the area and its history.  BY 8:30 he was telling us that if we wanted to leave today we would all have to get back in our boats so he could open the bridge. I can tell you, none of us wanted to go!

He runs the lock, the bridge, and the dams that control the water levels. He works all year at it.  He collects chess sets!

So...the Dismal Swamp is NOT a swamp in it the result of aquifers from hundreds of miles away in the Virginia mountains and it has the purest water in the world. But it runs through an enormous peat bog that covers over 100,000 acres and is 35 feet deep, so it comes out looking like tea. Robert calls it the world’s biggest tea bag! But no bacteria will grow in it...that’s what makes it pre. He said at one time you could drink it but because of fuel spills, and other pollutants like vehicles, animal carcasses and such, it’s not recommended as drinking water!

It feels like you are in the middle of nowhere and then a house, a farm or a road will pop up and there are people here. It runs straight for 22 miles. It’s at most 10 feet deep, but normally 6.5 feet and 75 feet wide. We could pass ourselves easily but not much more than that. And apparently there are alligators in here. In the summer a mini-van hit one trying to cross the road. The van was totalled and the 12-foot alligator died!

We are following behind C-Soul. They have a 40-hp outboard and can travel slightly faster than us comfortably. Alethea is about an hour behind, doing 3 knots as their top speed.

The three boats have decided that we will meet up at the Welcome Center at the bottom of the Swamp canal, and set what happens from there. We could get through the lock at the end but it’s supposed to rain tomorrow and we will be in Elizabeth City.

We just crossed the North Carolina state line so I have to remember to call Customs tonight.

We stopped at the Visitor’s center at the end o the Swamp just before the last lock and we are waiting for Alethea to catch up to us. Another sailboat just arrived and it is not the one we were waiting for. According to their report there are three more boats coming to stop here, not counting our friends?

At 5:00 m there are 9 boats here! We are rafted up with a 40 foot Admiral catamaran with an 8/9 yr old kid on board. Her name is Hoku and her dad, Rick, is a cruising editor with Waterway Guide as well. Mom is Katy.

Brent & Trent showed up in a 1976 Prout cat. They are parked behind us and in front of C-Soul. Two monohulls are rafted together at the end of the dock with another cat, a Gemini, on the outside, and C-Soul is rafted up with Alethea. One boat is anchored out in the river just ahead of us... 5 cats altogether.

Now it’s 9:30 pm ...dishes are done and it’s raining. I cooked dinner for Alethea and C-Soul and we had a great time! 9:00 pm is midnight for sailors!  So we are going to read for a bit and hit the bed.